With You
by DucksFan1510
Summary: Just a collection of One Shots I'm going to type up focusing on Merle and Daryl before the apocalypse. They'll be kids or adults.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright so I'm starting a One-Shot series of Merle and Daryl. Each Chapter will be a new One Shot. They're not in any particular order; just the order that I come up with them. So there might be large age differences between two stories but I'll try to include about what age they are. It's pre-apocalypse. Anywhere from kids to adults. **

**I Just Want To Be Normal**

** Daryl comes home from school in tears, so naturally Merle has to get him to settle down and shut up.**

Merle was skipping school today. Not like it really mattered but that was the reason why his annoying little brother wasn't at the house. He had the house to himself for the day since his dad was out probably getting shit-faced again. Merle was seventeen. Only one more year of high school and he probably wouldn't even go. He was done with school already. If he could leave the house right now and move on he would but he'd decided to stay around until Daryl was going to go into junior high. His little brother was only in third grade. The problem with Daryl was that he was really annoying. He always wanted Merle to help him with stuff from his school and hell, Merle didn't even want to remember the stuff he did in third grade. So he would just brush his little brother off of him every time he asked and usually Daryl would leave him alone.

But he was always a little worried about Daryl. The poor kid was already labeled as a kid to stay away from because of Merle. Teachers didn't like him because they'd known Merle. Daryl wasn't anything like him though but no one would give him a chance. Merle had too bad of a reputation. He bet that Daryl was one of those kids that sat alone at lunch and just walked the playground instead of actually playing with the other kids. It's not like anyone would talk to him.

That's when he heard the front door open. Either his dad was done drinking or Daryl was coming home from school. He guessed that it was Daryl because the door wasn't slammed open and there wasn't any yelling or thumping. The sound he did hear, completely gave away that it was Daryl. He heard sniffing and then Daryl appeared in the kitchen and Merle could tell he was crying. Merle rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch. He wasn't going to say anything to Daryl because then he'd be drawn into some long story and his little brother would expect him to hug him, which Merle was not going to do.

But it didn't stop. It went on for a good half hour before Merle gave up. "God dammit Daryl! What the hell is wrong?" he snarled. Daryl didn't even respond because he was to busy wiping his nose in his shirt and rubbing his hand over his eyes. Merle waited for his little brother to get control of himself. Finally Daryl looked up at him, "We had to say something we did with our family over the weekend today." Merle frowned, "You didn't say something I told you not to talk about did ya?" Daryl shook his head, "No. I-I said that I hadn't done anything with my family over the weekend." Merle nodded, "That's good. You don't say shit about what goes on here." Daryl nodded again, "I know. That's what you said."

Merle turned to him then, "Then why the hell are you so upset?" Daryl sniffed again, "Rick and Shane went to the zoo with their families and saw all the animals. Carol got to go to a movie. Andrea went to the beach and built a sand castle. They all did things like that." Merle didn't like where this conversation was going. Daryl was really good at getting him emotional and this was going to be one of those times if he didn't step up his game. "Those things aren't as great as they seem Daryl. Once you grow up you'll see that they're all just a waste of time." It was quiet as his little brother took that in. Daryl reached over to him and grabbed his shirt, "I just want to be like them, Merle. I want to go and do things on the weekend like they can. Rick was telling me all about the animals there. He said that they're really amazing. I want to go somewhere Merle. It's not fair that I can't go places like them." Merle unhooked his brother's fingers from his shirt, "Stop being such a baby about this. It's not something you need to do in your life. You can go out in the woods and see animals without them being in cages." He could tell that there was something still bothering Daryl. His brother was bad at hiding his emotions. Merle would have to teach him how to do that soon or he'd never learn.

Daryl turned towards him and that was when Merle saw the dried blood on Daryl's ear and the little bruise on the side of his brother's face. "Shane and his friend Phil came after me after school," Daryl explained quietly. The tears were shining in his eyes again. "They t-told me that I should stop coming to school because I wasn't a n-normal kid. T-That a normal k-kid actually does things with his f-family. T-That a normal kid would a-actually have friends and n-not be a total w-weirdo. I'm not weird am I Merle?" Daryl said through his crying. Merle sighed. Of course those bastards hadn't left his little brother alone. All they did was take pleasure in torturing his little brother. He looked down at Merle, "They hit you like that?" Daryl nodded and rubbed the side of his face, "S-Said I shouldn't come to s-school anymore. T-They said if I did, then they'll c-come after me e-every d-day."

Merle shook his head, "They're lying. You gotta stand up to people like that Daryl or they're not going to leave you alone." Daryl looked up at him, "You want me to fight t-them? I can't. They're t-too big." Merle tried moving away from his little brother. Daryl kept scooting closer to him. "You don't gotta fight them, but that would be the best option. But you can't go running home crying. Then they know that you're a little weak kid." Daryl frowned slightly, "I'm not weak." Merle laughed slightly, "Then why are you crying Darleena?" Daryl's frown deepened, "I'm not crying. And don't call me that name." Merle smiled again, "I'm pretty sure you were cryin' and I'm also pretty sure that the name fits you very well."

Daryl didn't have a comeback for him so it got quiet again. Merle glanced over at his little brother who was lightly touching the side of his ear where it was bloody. "Why don't you go wash that off?" Merle said and Daryl got up and ran to the bathroom. He came back a minute later and sat next to Merle on the couch. This is what the problem with Daryl was, the kid was always trying to get close to him. Merle knew that the only person that Daryl felt safe with was him but this whole close contact stuff was annoying.

Daryl leaned on him and Merle felt his little brother's body start shaking again. Now what was his problem? This was the part that Merle hated. Daryl would come up and sit right next to him and then it would be impossible for him to not comfort his brother. Daryl looked up at him again, "I-I wanna be normal Merle. I wanna have friends like Rick and Shane have. I want to be appreciated by other people. I want to run around with people at recess and talk to them after school. I want to be a normal kid." Daryl was crying again and Merle sighed. This was the part he could never get over. His little brother was the only one who could get this side of him to come out. So he reached his arm out and pulled Daryl into a one-armed hug. Daryl turned his head and buried his face into Merle's shoulder. Merle looked down at him, "I know ya do Daryl. I know ya do. But you can't." Daryl wiped a hand over his face, "Why not? Why can't I?" Merle smiled slightly, "Cause you're better than normal. You're above normal." To him, Daryl was. He knew not everybody would think that but Daryl didn't need to know that just yet. He felt Daryl laugh slightly, "Really?" Merle grinned, "Yea. No stop being such a baby and quit crying." Daryl stopped crying but didn't move from his position next to Merle. Merle rolled his eyes, "Can't you go somewhere else?" Daryl shook his head, "Nah. Us above normal people have to stick together right?" Merle laughed slightly and ran a hand down his little brother's back, "Yea I guess we do."

Sure Daryl could be a little annoying at some points. He could get on Merle's nerves a lot of the time. But in the end he was still Merle's little brother. Daryl was the only one who could ever get Merle to actually care about something. So that's where they sat. Both of them sitting on the couch while Merle tried to get Daryl off of him and his little brother would just laugh and resituate himself so Merle couldn't push him away. Like Daryl had said, the above-normal people had to stick together.

**Yea I know that Merle is (SPOILER) dead in the show. But I just loved these two so I'm going to keep up with them. Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading. Reviews would be great!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I had to type up one of these. It's kind of short but I think it's good.**

**Never Wanted It Like This**

**Merle never wanted a little brother. He didn't want someone else here that would have to deal with this hell.**

Merle was sitting outside in the lobby of the hospital while his mom gave birth to his baby brother. He may only be nine years old but he knew that he didn't want a little brother. It would just be hell for both of them. His mom had tried to get him excited about it. Saying: 'you're going to be a big brother Merle' and 'now you'll have someone to play with' and all that other crap. He wasn't excited. He didn't want one. This brother was just going to be a pain for him. So when the nurse that came to bring him into his mom's room asked him if he was excited about being an older brother, he just shrugged. He didn't want to disappoint her and say no. He almost didn't want to go into the hospital room and see this new brother. He would rather just go home and pretend that it never happened. But instead he walked inside and stood awkwardly at the front of the room.

The first thing he noticed was that his little brother was crying. Which sucked cause it gave him a headache. His mom was trying to get his brother to shut up which wasn't working at all. His dad was standing over by the window and he looked just plain annoyed. That's what Merle was afraid of. His little brother didn't know any better. He wasn't even a month old yet. His dad would probably end up killing his brother anyway. The second thing he noticed was that he didn't even know his brother's name. But that changed quickly enough. His mom smiled tiredly at him, "Come here Merle, come meet your little brother, Daryl." So they'd gone with the matching names. He wanted to gag. He walked over but he really didn't care. He didn't want this kid in the same house as he was. It wasn't fair to either of them. So he just kind of glanced at Daryl, who was still crying, and then looked away. There he'd done it. Now he wanted to go home.

But his mom wasn't done yet, "Here, why don't you hold him for a minute?" No. No this was not what he wanted. He didn't want to touch Daryl. He didn't want to have his wailing baby brother in his ear. But he couldn't say no either. So he stepped forward and slowly lifted Daryl into his arms. "What do I do?" Merle asked quietly. His mom smiled slightly as she shifted on the bed, "Just rock him for a minute. I'll try and calm him down in just a second." Merle nodded and slowly rocked back on forth on his feet. He wasn't really sure if Daryl had just tired himself out or not but his little brother stopped crying. Instead he closed his eyes and fell asleep in Merle's arms. Had Daryl really just stopped for him? Just for him? No that wasn't possible. The kid must've just tired himself out.

A few days later they were on their way home and his little brother was whining again. Merle had to admit, maybe Daryl wouldn't be so bad. The only way that the kid would stop crying most of the time, would be if he was holding him. Sure, his mom could get his brother to shut up sometimes but it took a lot longer than Merle could. Since Merle really didn't want his dad getting all mad about Daryl's whining, he was the one holding him. That's why Daryl had stopped crying a few minutes ago and why he was now sleeping again. All that kid did was sleep. But even though Daryl was really little, he spent more time with Daryl than he wanted to. But maybe that wasn't really a bad thing. Daryl was good company sometimes when he wasn't crying. Then again the kid was a few days old. He couldn't argue back or really say anything at all.

It was a year later when Merle had the happiest moment in his life. His dad was out in jail for something that Merle didn't even know. He had walked home from school with one of his friends and was just arriving in his house. His mom, like usual, was trying to get Daryl to talk. It never worked. Daryl was a stubborn kid. Merle tossed his bag into the room and went to sit down. He tried to ignore the conversation that his mom was trying to have with Daryl. It was the same thing he heard every day. But today was a little different because Daryl actually said something. It wasn't what his mom wanted though. She had been trying to coax Daryl into saying 'Mama' for the longest time. Merle smiled slightly when Daryl had given her a very confused look the first time she started this.

He also knew that he would be called over to try and get his brother to talk as well. Sure enough. "Merle, come give it a try will you?" his mom asked. Merle sighed, "Mom, I've tried all week. If he doesn't want to talk then he's not going to." His mom called him again, "Merle, just try today ok?" Merle still didn't move from his spot in the chair. He was not going to force his little brother to do anything. "Merle…" his mom said in that warning tone that all kids hated. Merle sighed again but before he could get up his mom cut him off, "Merle!" At least that's what he thought at first. But he knew that wasn't his mom's voice. His eyes fell on his little brother who was smiling at him. Had Daryl just…? Daryl kept that goofy smile on his face as he pointed at him, "Merle." His brother had just talked and it had been his name. Not his mom and thankfully not his dad but his name.

He started laughing, "My name, mom." His mom smiled but he did look a little sad that it hadn't been what she wanted it to be. But she wasn't the best mom ever either. "Will you watch him for a few minutes Merle? I'm going to go upstairs," his mom said. Merle nodded and waited for his mom to leave before turning towards Daryl He lifted his little brother up and walked out of the room. He still couldn't believe that his brother had said his name first and not any of that other crap his mom was trying to teach him. He looked into Daryl's eyes with a little smile, "That's right. You know the only one who's gonna care about ya. You know that don't ya?" Daryl smiled at him again and hit him in the face, "Merle!" Of course his little brother would have to hit him. "Hey watch where you're swinging your arms. You don't gotta hit me. I'm the one you like here."

Daryl grew up. He was a smart kid too. Merle was proud of his little brother. There were still the times that Daryl annoyed him but they were less frequent. But Daryl still didn't deserve to be here. Not in this family. He was too sweet for what their dad did to them. He deserved none of that. But Merle kept Daryl close to him as much as he could. If he could protect his little brother, then he would. He'd give Daryl a chance to grow up and be whatever he wanted to be. He never wanted Daryl to be part of this family. His little brother's life shouldn't have to be like this. But it was. And there was nothing Merle could do to change it. So the first time that his little brother got hit, he helped him. And he apologized over and over to Daryl as his little brother cried. But that was the last time that Daryl got hit. The last time that Merle ever let his dad get near Daryl again. Until he left.

_So as the Governor shot him, he thought of that. This was his final act as a brother. And like he'd secretly promised Daryl all those years ago, if he could protect his little brother then he would. He'd give Daryl that chance to finally be the person that he wanted to be. Even if it meant having to do that without him._

**I had to throw in that little ending. Thanks for reading guys! Hope you liked it! Reviews would be great!**


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